Otters face adversity with winning attitude

Erie Otters' Michael Curtis skates up the ice before contributing with an assist on teammate's Dane Fox's goal in the third period of play against Saginaw at the Erie Insurance Arena on Oct 12. JARID A. BARRINGER/ERIE TIMES-NEWS

Kitchener Rangers (7-12-0-1) at Erie Otters (18-3-1-0)- When: Today, 11 a.m.- Where: Erie Insurance Arena- On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)- Up next: At London (Friday, 7:30 p.m.), vs. Sudbury (Saturday, 7 p.m.)- What to watch: The Otters face a rare morning game three days after beating Western Conference contenders Guelph and Sault Ste. Marie last weekend to build a two-point lead over the Storm in the Midwest Division and three points ahead of the Greyhounds in the Western Conference. ... The Otters play their first morning game in four years. ... They are an OHL-best 12-0-0-0 at home. The Rangers are 2-7-0-1 on the road, tied for the second-fewest wins in the league. ... The Otters and Rangers meet for the second time this season. Erie won 4-0 in Kitchener behind G Oscar Dansk's first OHL shutout and the team's first of five shutout victories this season. ... On Monday, head coach Kris Knoblauch said he hadn't determined whether Dansk or G Devin Williams will start in net today. Williams has won all six starts while Dansk recovered from a lower-body injury and seven consecutive starts overall. Dansk was the backup for the wins against Guelph and Sault Ste. Marie. ... LW Dane Fox is tied for the league lead with 21 goals. He was considered for the league's player of the week honor after totaling two goals and seven points in three games last week.-- Victor Fernandes

The Guelph Storm were the better team for the first two periods Saturday night. That hasn't happened often to the Erie Otters this season.

There was the 8-4 loss at Windsor on Sept. 28, and the 6-2 defeat in London on Nov. 3. But that was two too many, as far as the players are concerned.

"Between periods in the locker room (on Saturday), we told ourselves that we weren't going to let it happen again," defenseman Troy Donnay said. "We're not going to lose at home."

These Otters refuse to lose no matter what challenges they face, which is a definite change for a club that lost 107 times in 134 games the past two seasons.

"We're willing to do anything to win," Donnay said.

Even if it means scoring three short-handed goals to erase a 3-0 deficit against one of the OHL's top teams, and then winning the game in overtime.

"We believe we can come back. We believe we can win every single game," captain Connor Brown said. "The character in the room is huge."

Head coach Kris Knoblauch has witnessed a transformation from a fragile team that wouldn't have recovered against a good club into a team that battles until the end.

"When things went wrong (a season ago), it really fell apart," he said. "This year, certainly, we can handle adversity. The best teams always can. We are a better team."

Along with the character in the dressing room, Brown pointed to the maturity of a team that's a year older and wiser, as well as the team-first mindset center Michael Curtis and defenseman Cory Genovese brought to the team after being acquired in trades. Brown also pointed to the team's swagger, which has grown with each of these 18 wins.

"We've got a bit more confidence in ourselves," Brown said.

The comeback win against Guelph, as well as those previous losses to London and Windsor, have taught the Otters valuable lessons.

"Against better teams, you can't show up and play 75 percent," Knoblauch said. "Sometimes you can get away with that against lower-seeded teams. But the good teams like Windsor, London, Guelph, Soo (Sault Ste. Marie), we can't do that because (those) teams will take advantage of it."

Knoblauch appreciated how his team rallied against the Storm.

"They were trying to create offensive opportunities without cheating, without a lazy back-check or going for a stretch pass that wasn't there," he said. "They were working hard honestly to create their chances."

The Otters have learned what it takes to win the right way. Now they want to keep winning.

"It really shows we're a character team," Donnay said.

VICTOR FERNANDES can be reached at 870-1716 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/goeriehockey. Read the Shootout hockey blog at GoErie.com/blogs/shootout and post comments.